Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Wed 11/8

8:15 am - 8:55 am

A Conversation with Steve Ballmer

Centennial Hall

This year's California Summit opens with a conversation between giants of industry and philanthropy, Steve Ballmer, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers and co-founder of Ballmer Group, and Michael Milken, Chairman of the Milken Institute, for a broad-ranging discussion on California's position among the world's leading economies and the future of philanthropy in the state.

Interviewer

Guest

Wed 11/8

9:00 am - 9:50 am

California's Future Economy

Centennial Hall

California continues to outperform the nation as a whole in job growth because of its strength in three key industries: trade, technology and tourism. In an increasingly competitive globalized economy, California remains a prolific laboratory for ideas and a proving ground for innovative models of finance and climate stewardship. The state’s economy remains vulnerable, though, to domestic and international political and economic forces. This session explores the state's economic present and future in the context of what is happening now as well as what's to come.

Wed 11/8

10:00 am - 11:00 am

Alternative Small Business Financing: Keeping California on Top and Sharing the Wealth

Optimist A&B

Small businesses in California employ nearly half of the state's private workforce but lack the capital to grow. Though a recovery is underway, access to money has grown more acute since the Great Recession. Banks aren’t lending in the amounts that small businesses and entrepreneurs need; venture capital, angel investing, and crowdfunding have become important alternative forms of financing. In fact, California’s small business owners tap these alternative means of capital – often from Silicon Valley and Silicon Beach -- far more than small business nationwide. But the state can do much more for small business, from crowdfunding legislation to greater support for minority entrepreneurs to reaching out beyond the world of technology.

Senior Advisor, CrowdSmart.io; Filene Research Fellow, University of California, Irvine

Wed 11/8

10:00 am - 11:00 am

California's Solutions to Health Care

Legacy A&B

As Congress and the Executive Branch continue to debate how healthcare should work in America, businesses in California are creating local, innovative solutions that you probably don't yet know about. But innovation in healthcare still requires solving the age-old problem: Increasing access and quality of care that workers and employers can afford. California ranks 34th out of 50 states in overall access to healthcare, but state lawmakers, entrepreneurs and business leaders are bringing new healthcare products and services to market. New partnerships between pharmaceutical companies and care providers are meant to lower prescription drug costs, for example. How will these new solutions affect cost management and quality of care and how many Californians remain uninsured or left behind? Can we export these models to other states or countries?

Wed 11/8

10:00 am - 11:00 am

Local Housing Solutions Working Group (Invite only)

Exploration

The robustness of California’s long-neglected housing supply remains a vital component of any strategy to invest in human capital, promote economic development and provide social mobility. Yet cities throughout the state continue to struggle to develop adequate levels of housing. The housing crisis is not only one of supply, but the lack of adequate policy supporting the various types of development demanded by the marketplace. This sessions will feature discussions on California’s most pressing housing needs, along with an examination of key legislative victories and local best practices.

Moderator

Wed 11/8

10:00 am - 11:00 am

Securing Public Pensions (Invite only)

Illumination

Many government-mandated pension schemes have accumulated large reserves while they’ve also become significant liabilities for cities and towns. Pension fund management has a direct effect on financial sustainability and potential benefit levels. As well as an indirect effect on the overall economy, when the funds are leveraged for the domestic capital markets. How can the state and local jurisdictions balance the need to retain the viability of the public retirement systems, while also charting a path that does not unduly burden tax payers or public services?

Speakers

Wed 11/8

10:00 am - 11:00 am

Sustainable Solutions For a Green Future

Laureate

California, the country’s most populous, diverse and economically dynamic state, is in the midst of a transformation to turn its economy into a leading global incubator for renewable energy and resiliency solutions. California clean energy entrepreneurs are busy developing sustainable technologies, from flexible and wearable solar cells to efficient water markets to ensure drought resiliency for commercial farmers. But progress requires further investment from all California businesses, not just those in the energy sector. Can the state get where it wants to go? This session will feature a dynamic array of inventors, entrepreneurs, and policy innovators pursuing new ideas and advancements that are building the foundation the green economy of tomorrow.

Wed 11/8

11:15 am - 12:15 pm

Big Cities, Big Data: How "Smart Cities" Improve Lives & Save Money

Optimist A&B

From homelessness and housing to pensions to public safety, more California cities are using sophisticated data analytics to help solve their biggest problems. Open data portals in Los Angeles, for instance, are working toward more affordable housing development; Long Beach is using data to achieve greener results at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the region's largest air polluter, into one of the most environmentally friendly ports in the nation. But what are best practices for smart cities of the future, and how they can be more efficient and effective in deploying data in addressing disparities and inequality?

Wed 11/8

11:15 am - 12:15 pm

Blockchain for Social Impact

Laureate

Blockchain has become a poster child for what we talk about when we talk about disruptive technology. It may soon change the nature of global commerce by creating a new platform for secure financial and legal transactions like land entitlements, supply chain and asset management and so-called "smart contracts." By providing a decentralized, transparent and virtually hack-proof digital ledger, blockchains provide greater public accountability for and accessibility to public and private exchanges. Blockchain has already proven to be a platform for the explosion in cryptocurrencies and a market for ICOs – Initial Coin Offerings that raise money for unproven ventures and that remain unbeholden to regulatory scrutiny. How can California continue to foster responsible blockchain innovation, and where does will the market lead?

Wed 11/8

11:15 am - 12:15 pm

Community Health Approaches to Lowering the Burden of Chronic Diseases in California (Invite only)

Exploration

Chronic diseases have become a major public health and economic challenge facing the U.S. overall and California specifically. In California, chronic diseases cost a total of $378.3 billion in 2016 – equivalent to 15.1% of the State’s overall economic output. 30% of these costs were in the form of direct payments for health care, and the remainder resulted from missed work and economic productivity losses. Cultural and language barriers, as well as differences in dietary habits, are major drivers of chronic diseases, especially in states as diverse as California. This session considers community health approaches as ways to mitigate the impact of chronic diseases through inclusive and participatory care.

Moderator

Wed 11/8

11:15 am - 12:15 pm

Immigration and the California Economy

Legacy A&B

As immigration policy has become an urgent policy item in the United States and Europe, California finds itself caught squarely in the middle of competing economic and political agendas. It would be no exaggeration to say that the national immigration debate may have a significant impact on key industry sectors in California, including agriculture, tourism, manufacturing and tech innovation. How will the prospect of more aggressive federal deportation policies affect California’s ability to power its economy? Likewise, how are state leaders cultivating and protecting the highly skilled immigrant workforce our economy needs to continue to flourish?

Wed 11/8

11:15 am - 12:15 pm

Investing in California's Infrastructure (Invite only)

Illumination

Infrastructure remains the indispensable component of the U.S. economy but also as a driver of job creation and growth. Needed to maintain domestic productivity, efficiency, and ensure global competitiveness, infrastructure remains one of our most crucial public goods for commerce and economic development. During this private session, participants will review best practices in sustainable investing, the need for public-private partnerships, and standardization across key investment criteria. They will discuss how different types of investments are able to meet the risk/return profile of investors and explore new ideas for channeling investment dollars into the sector. The group will explore:

What are the structures that have been successful to supporting sustainable infrastructure projects?

What further standardization and development is needed to increase transparency and liquidity of these products?

Wed 11/8

12:30 pm - 2:00 pm

California Leading the Future of Energy

Centennial Hall

World leaders have embraced the challenge of long-term climate change – and for reasons that go beyond the obvious. Mitigating the human impact on global climate is sound environmental stewardship, but it also presents high-value investment opportunities. In the wake of the Trump Administration's plan to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, California has sought a national leadership role in carbon emissions reduction. New investments and innovations in clean tech and green energy, moreover, are creating a path to a sustainable energy future. This session convenes senior elected state officials, business executives and conservationists to discuss California's future climate and energy policy.

Host

Wed 11/8

2:30 pm - 3:30 pm

Illumination

California is experiencing a demographic age shift that is both urban and distinctly diverse. Smart California cities can address the challenges of an aging population and harness the massive social and economic potential of older adults across the state. Enlightened leadership, policymaking, and action will not just benefit the old. The successful cities of the future will enable purposeful, productive, and healthy aging and enhance urban livability for all. Can California, the nation's leading majority-minority state, also show the way in the movement to develop smart, age-friendly cities? This session includes leaders in policy, academia, philanthropy, and business to discuss promising practices that can provide better lives for the current generation of older Californians, and a better future for generations to come.

Wed 11/8

2:30 pm - 3:30 pm

Exploration

Los Angeles is home to more nonprofits than any other county in the nation. With over 1.5 million registered nonprofits in the United States, the need to find ways for organizations to reduce duplication of services, inefficiencies, and competition for resources has grown. A national movement has emerged to find ways to facilitate partnerships among nonprofits that can lead to greater organizational effectiveness and efficiency. The Nonprofit Sustainability Initiative (NSI), was launched in 2013 and has become a leader in this effort. The NSI funds strategic partnerships that combine some or all aspects of two or more organizations, ranging from jointly managed programs and back-office consolidations, to shared ventures or full-scale mergers and acquisitions. To date, the initiative has funded over 150 organizations to enter into strategic partnership agreements. This session will discuss not only the NSI and its potential for scalability throughout the state, but also other best practice initiatives and how nonprofit impact has been transformed through partnerships.

Wed 11/8

2:30 pm - 3:30 pm

Green Gold: California's New Cash Crop

Legacy A&B

California, already the nation’s largest producer of medical marijuana – a $7 billion industry – is poised to become the largest recreational marijuana market in the world. Anticipating strong recreational sales starting in 2018, California growers are buying up former prisons, vineyards and repair shops to stage their operations. Despite robust cash flow and consumer demand, marijuana businesses across the state still have few options for banking their cash. Most banks, wary of federal laws that criminalize marijuana-based commerce, largely decline to work with even the most established growers, distributors and dispensaries. Ripe conditions, critics say, for a black market that could rob the state of hundreds of millions of dollars in potential tax revenue.

Wed 11/8

2:30 pm - 3:30 pm

Made in California: Presentations from California Grown Startups

Laureate

California’s venture capital isn’t invested solely in tech and software. The Golden State is quickly developing fertile ground, in regions throughout the state, for cultivating manufacturing startups. These start-ups have revitalized the state’s reputation as a hub of industrial innovation as they look to utilize advanced manufacturing techniques to grow their companies and deliver innovative products. This session will showcase a selection of manufacturers, incubators and entrepreneurs who are leveraging regional characteristics to drive innovation and continue to ensure that the future is made in California.

Wed 11/8

2:30 pm - 3:30 pm

Tech or Bust: Maintaining California's Edge in the Workforce

Optimist A&B

Entertainment and creative technology collectively generate $300 billion as pillars of California’s global economy. But a digital shift is underway. Entertainment now comprises not only television, movies and music but gaming, e-sports, and other digital pastimes that attract capital and investment from tech hubs, world-class university labs and, indeed, Hollywood. How has the shift changed the labor pool for entertainment as we now understand it? What can California do to remain competitive with other states and countries?

Wed 11/8

3:45 pm - 5:00 pm

Investing in California's Future

Centennial Hall

California continues to outperform the national average in job growth, led by signature industries in trade, technology, entertainment, and tourism. While California continues to profit on this post-recession economic success, the state’s long-term economic foundation is threatened by the high cost of living, the lengthy regulatory process for new businesses, and increased competition from domestic and international markets in technology. To keep the golden state’s economic future bright, leaders in business and government must leverage opportunities around increasing investment in communities and higher education supporting the jobs of the future to spur continued innovation and growth. How can state leaders’ best leverage California’s economic and cultural advantages to keep the state’s economy vibrant and growing in the 21st century?